The Walking Canvas

April 13, 2012

by Nick Antz

Most days Jennifer Ireland’s job is to listen to customers as they try to describe their dream tattoos. When they only have a vague idea of what they want, as is often the case, it’s her job to patiently pluck from their heads the shapes, colors, placement, lettering and other important details of their desired work, even when they lack the vocabulary to properly articulate their ideas.

Jennifer Ireland Photo by Nick Antz

Ireland is the shop manager at the Dead President’s Lounge Tattoo Shop, and one of the many people whose lives revolve around Albany’s Pine Hills neighborhood. Every week from Monday to Saturday the heavily tattooed 30-year-old can be seen bouncing around local establishments. Some days she can be found taking a quick lunch at Bruegger’s Bagels, and on others running to Price Chopper to pick up some last minute groceries. Even on her downtime Ireland might be on Madison grabbing a few drinks at the Point with friends.

The detail-oriented and hard-working Ireland is employed full-time at Dead Prez. She’s been a fixture in the shop for more than six years, taking the job only six months after they opened. She was initially drawn to the then part-time job because of her interest in tattoos and the appeal of working closely with friends, even though there was no guarantee a full-time job would ever open. Her early days in the shop saw her working there every other day sweeping up dust bunnies, taking care of paper work and even refinishing the floor. Eventually she learned how to clean tubes for artists, further proving her usefulness to the shop.

“I did anything that needed to be done,” said Ireland.

The view from Jen’s side of the shop / Nick Antz

In her current position Ireland still handles a lot of the day-to-day cleaning tasks she did back then, but now she’s also responsible taking appointments and recommending artists to new clients. Every week she works tirelessly from Monday to Saturday, pulling a 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. shift on four of those days. On the other two, which vary due to the way retail workers are scheduled, she leaves Dead Prez early at 4:30 p.m. and drives to her second job as a sales associate at Eblens in Crossgates Mall where she’ll work until about 10.

Ireland’s true loyalty is to the shop, and has always considered work outside of it “her other job” even when she was still a part-timer.

Outside the Dead President’s Lounge / Nick Antz

“I love the atmosphere here, and all the amazing art,” she said.

Ireland has spent a lot of time, effort, and money perfecting her own body’s art, which no doubt adds to her enjoyment of the job and deep respect for the artists she works with. Her otherwise pale white skin is adorned with countless pieces of art that range from an intricately drawn back piece depicting a sullen-looking woman looking at her own dark, twisted reflection in a mirror to a cartoony penguin with a gold tooth. There is no real rhyme or reason to a majority of the work, which has all been strategically placed so that it could be covered by professional dress.

“I don’t know where I’ll end up, so no neck pieces or face tattoos until I do,” she said.

Her first tattoo was an impulse buy, an angel reaching for a cross on her left shoulder that she got in honor of her late step-mother. She got it at the first tattoo shop she passed after turning 18. Her latest piece was done in the beginning of February. It’s a swallow with four eyes that rests on the upper part of her right leg. It was done at Dead Prez like a majority of her most recent work.

Ireland counts herself as one of the lucky people who can say they legitimately love their job, despite all the hours she spends working in the shop and the fact leisure time comes at a premium.

“I haven’t had a day off in a long time,” said Ireland.

But for her this isn’t a bad thing. She said if it was up to her she’d spend even more time at the shop than she already does.

Besides the easy access to cheap tattoos and getting to work with people she genuinely likes, the job is also a perfect fit for Ireland’s inner perfectionist. She listed “ cleaning and organizing” as some of her favorite hobbies even though she’s quick to admit how lame that might sound.

“She’s very clean, everything has to be perfect,” said her roommate Nykky Roadarmel, who has lived with Ireland for almost a year at their Winthrop Avenue apartment.

This perfectionism came as no surprise to Roadarmel, however, who was first exposed to it when she worked under Ireland as an associate at Hot Topic in Crossgates Mall. Jen would always make sure the store looked spotless at the end of the night, Roadarmel said, no matter how badly it was messed up during business hours.

Before living on Winthrop, Ireland lived all around the Capital Region, taking up residence on Albany’s McCarty Avene and Adam’s Park Apartments, in Scotia, and in Niskayuna. She was born in Fountain Valley, California on September 2, 1981, and moved to Florida when she was one. She grew up in the Sunshine State, living there until the age of 18 before moving up to Providence, Rhode Island for college. She left school without finishing to move up to Albany a year later.

Since coming to the Capital Region Ireland has worked at a variety of places including Hot Topic, where she was a manager, Spencer’s in Crossgates Mall and Dunkin Donuts on Washington Avenue. Ireland was an ideal boss according to her former Hot Topic employee Alan Barber. She pushed her workers to accomplish more, he said, but never resorted to being mean or condescending to do it.

“She was awesome, just a really great person to work for,” said Barber. -30-